Fundamentals of Geology

The Pennsylvania Council of Professional Geologists (PCPG) was founded in 1989, as a Non-Profit Corporation in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. We are a corporation of Member Companies. Our Members are drawn from a broad cross-section of the geological and environmental consulting businesses.

The PCPG is the premier organization representing the professional, ethical and commercial interests of practicing Geologists in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Since 1989, membership in the PCPG has grown from our original 20 Charter Members, to over 60 companies employing more than 1,200 geologists in the Commonwealth. Click on Membership to review a list of our Member Companies. You can also contact them through the hyperlinks provided. If you are in need of geological consulting services, you can visit our Members' Services Page to see the service areas in which our Member Companies specialize.

The accomplishments of the PCPG are many and varied. You can visit our Accomplishments page to get an overview of our history. Perhaps the shining jewel in PCPG's crown of accomplishments to-date, both to the professional practice of Geology in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and to the Public Interest in the Commonwealth, was drafting, sponsoring, lobbying for, and, ultimately, securing enactment of, Act 151 of 1992. This is the law requiring Professional Licensure for Geologists practicing in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. You can click here for to review a full-text version of Act 151 of 1992. One of the results of passing Professional Licensure for Geologists is that now Geologists are legally responsible for the work that they do. Geologists must signify the taking of that responsibility by applying a Geologist's Seal to all professional work product. You can review your responsibilities for sealing your work product by clicking on Use Your Seal.

The PCPG agenda is full, and we are a busy and vital organization. The PCPG Governmental Affairs Committee monitors legislative activities. We work with the State Legislature on Bills of interest to Professional Geologists. Governmental Affairs Committee Co-Chairmen, Dr. Grover Emrich, P.G. (Emrich & Associates), H. Scott Laird, P.G. (Woodward-Clyde Consultants) and David Farrinton (Satterthwaite Associates), are tracking a large number of Bills during the current legislative session. For our latest update on what's going on in the legislature, click on our Governmental Affairs Committee page.

The PCPG provides training opportunities around the Commonwealth to Geologists and the Community at-large. Semi-annually we offer refresher courses for new geologists applying to take the State Licensing Exam. We also offer on a recurring basis, our successful one-day seminar on Act 2 of 1995, the Pennsylvania Land Recycling Act. In August, 1998, we offered for the first time a new course entitled "Professional Seminar: Ethics and Responsibilities of the Professional Geologist." We plan for that offering to join our suite of recurring training opportunities. We are considering a broad spectrum of other new courses, on a variety of other topics of broad interest, including courses on: 1) Underground Storage Tank (UST) Law and Regulations; and 2) Training for Technical Experts in Court. Geologists or other employees of PCPG Member Companies receive a discount of up to 40% on all PCPG-Sponsored Training. Click on Training and Seminars to see what we have coming in your area during the year 2000. If you have some ideas for other training or seminars that you would like us to offer, please E-Mail Your Ideas so we can better serve you.

The PCPG has many Member representatives serving on Advisory Committees at the State and Federal Level. A PCPG Member representative serves on the United States Department of the Interior's National Geologic Mapping Advisory Committee (Richard E. Wright, P.G., PCPG Permanent Director). PCPG Member representatives serve on the following PA Department of Environmental Protection (PA DEP) Committees: the Water Quality Technical Advisory Committee (Richard T. Wardrop, P.G., Shaw Environmental), the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Technical Advisory Committee (Dick Wright, P.G., R.E. Wright, P.G. Consultants), and the Underground Storage Tank Technical Advisory Committee (William J. Minnick, P.G., RMI Environmental, Inc. A PCPG Member representative also serves on the PA DEP Science Advisory Board (SAB)(Richard T. Wardrop, P.G., U. S. Filter), which developed the Act 2 Land Recycling Act Cleanup Standards. A PCPG Member representative sits on the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources ad hoc Technical Advisory Committee to the Pennsylvania Bureau of Topographic and Geological Survey (Dr. Grover H. Emrich, Emrich & Associates), which assists the Survey with long-term planning and strategy development. A PCPG Member representative (Gary Kribbs, P.G., AEON Geosciences) serves on the standing Technical Advisory Committee for the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR). A PCPG Member representative (Burt A. Waite, P.G., Moody and Associates) was appointed in 1999 to serve on the Department of Environmental Protection Citizen Advisory Council, a legislatively mandated committee with overall responsibility for reviewing all environmental legislation, regulations and policies affecting the DEP. And, finally, a PCPG Member Company representative serves as one of two Geologists on the State Board of Licensure for Engineers, Land Surveyors and Geologists (Ted Tesler, P.G., Alliance Environmental Services and Tom Gillespie, P.G. ELM Inc.). The State Geologist, Jay Parrish, P.G., is an Honorary Member of the PCPG, and serves on the PCPG Advisory Committee.

If you would like to consider having a PCPG Member Company Geologist serve with you on a Committee of mutual interest, please send an E-Mail with the particulars to PCPG.

If you would like to be a part of PCPG and help us to advance the professional, ethical and commercial interests of Geologists in Pennsylvania, Join PCPG.